WSAG MEETING, MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1970

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: June 8, 1970
• Content Type: MEMO

No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6 3
MEMORANDUM
June 8, 1970
MEMORANDUM FOR DR. KISSINGER
FROM: John H. Holdridge
SUBJECT: WSAG Meeting, Monday, June 8, 1970
25X1
Since the meeting of June 4 the following actions have been taken:
25
X1
Items for discussion at this meeting include:
Army, DOS, JCS,
OSD, NSS reviews
completed.
- Military and political moves relating to the NVA/VC attack
on Seam Reap.
-- Provision of captured Communist arms to the Cambodians.
?Te-P--SErG-R-g.-T/SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
The Green Triangle situation.
- Improvement of intelligence collection and analysis concerning
Cambodia.
1. Military and Political Moves Relating to the NVA/VC Attack on
Scam Reap.
A. The Situation
? As of June 7 the city of Seam Reap, which is very near the
historic ruins of Angkor Wa.t, was under heavy NVA/VC
attack, and the main airfield was unusable due to Communist
seizure of an adjacent airstrip.
-- The Cambodians feel that the loss of Seam Reap and Angkor Wat
would be a major psychological and political blow. It would
depict the Cambodian situation as very serious, hurt morale,
and possibly provide an opportunity to Sihanouk to set up a
25X1
capital there at the ancient Khmer capital which could not by
attacked because of the need to preserve the ruins.
? Four RVNAF dragon ships for use in the defense of Seam Reap
and Kampong Thom, also under heavy attack, as well.
GVN helicopters to transport a battalion of Cambodian par25X1
troopers from Phnom. Penh to the vicinity of Seam Reap.
TOP SECRET /SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
-- Abrams said that the distance from South Vietnam to Seam
Reap was too great to permit GVN helicopters to operate as
far as Seam Reap and proposed setting up a helicopter base
at Seam Reap with facilities for air-ground communications.
He favors the GVN giving this aid. (See Tab 3.)
-- Unger has called the attention of Dawee and Praphat to the 25X1
situation.
-- Meanwhile, Unger has proposed, and Rives seconded, the thought
that the Cambodians should make an immediate public report and
appeal for good offices on the part of the Geneva Co-Chairmen,
the ICC members, the UN Secretary General, the Pope, and other
appropriate personages and international institutions to spare the
Angkor ruins. This would be intended to put pressure on Hanoi,
"discommode" the Communists, and somewhat dilute our side's
vulnerability to similar pressure if Angkor Wat should fall (s25X1
cable at Tab 4).
-- State's East Asia and International Organization Bureaus have
on their own gone to U Thant with a proposal that he make an
appeal similar to that put forward by Unger. He is thinking it
over.
B. Questions You May Wish to Raise:
-- What is the current military situation around Seam Reap?
(The representative of the Joint Chiefs should be able to provide
a briefing.)
TOP SECRET /SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
-25X1
TOP SECRET /SENSITIVE
-(Our present guidelines for the RVNAF are focussed more on
the sanctuary areas and LOC's to them than on operations deep
into Cambodia, on the theory that the Vietnamese are "fighting
the Vietnam war in Cambodia." There should be, however,
some latitude within this theory in that Hanoi has now broa25X1d
the war to include a much larger area than before.)
-- What position should we take with respect to Unger's proposal -L25X1
-- (We should find out more about the geography of the h.rea -
is it possible to defend Seam Reap and its airport without
menacing Angkor Wat?)
? (Perhaps the matter may be taken out of our hands by the EA /I0
pitch to U Thant. He may well go ahead on his own. But we
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
ourselves are conscious of the overriding need to preserve
the Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom complex, and should do
whatever seems compatible with this end.)
2. Provision of Captured Communist Arms to the Cambodians.
-- Lon Nol has indicated that he wants us to take action on turning
over arms captured in the Communist caches to his forces. He
has offered to check the amounts recovered against Cambodian
lists to facilitate such a turn-over, and to see if we have missed
anything. (See cable from Phnom Penh at Tab 5 . )
-- There seems to be some hint in this cable that the ARVN wants
merely to "share" the captured arms with the Cambodians rather
than to turn them all over.
-- At the last WSAG meeting you asked for a program for delivering
captured arms to the Cambodians to be worked out by today, and
the JCS representative agreed. He said that he would cable MACV
on providing lists for use by the Cambodians.
You may wish to raise these questions:
-- What is the status of the program, to transfer captured arms to
the Cambodians? Is there any way in which this matter could be
expedited? Would U.S. assistance be required?
- Has the list of captured arms been drawn up by MACV?
-- Is there any reason why these arms should be "shared" with the
ARVN, rather than be turned over in toto to the Cambodians?
. The green Trian le Situation.
- In the incoming cable at Tab 6, Phnom Penh wondered if considera-
tion should not be given to the possible use of Cambodian bases in
the Green Triangle as forward areas from which the Cambodian Army
could possibly harass LOC's at some future date.
? At the June 4 WSAG meeting, you asked for a cable to be sent to
MACV asking for its reaction to Phnom Penh's suggestion.
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6
Questions which you may wish to address:
-- Should reconsideration be given to support for Cambodian forces
? in the Green Triangle in order to permit operations to be staged
from this region against LOC's ?
Have we heard from MACV concerning this matter .
? 4. Improvement of Intelligence Collection and Analysis Concerning 25X1
Cambodia.
25X1
Questions which you might wish to ask are:
-- Do CIA and Defense have the firm recommendations which were
requested?
-- Assuming a plan is provided, how long will it take to. be implemented?
(Its need would appear to be urgent. )
-- Would it be desirable to have U.S. personnel involved in the proposed
? joint operations center? If so, how can this be done within legal
requirements?
V.
-- What decisions need to be made ?
TOP SECRET/SENSITIVE
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/04/03: LOC-HAK-523-1-3-6